infinite zestI like this guy, but I was sort of hoping that the "cooch" was some home-made super blender thing that was going to attempt to blend up the Blend Tec itself. But that's just me being greedy.

Old_ZirconMy parents got blendtec a few years ago, so I already know the answer is "no." It lasted maybe two months of making two smoothies every morning before the motor literally burned up and died.

BortSorry to hear it. I lean towards the Ninja as the cheapest blender I know of that can turn ice into snow, at a fraction of the price of the Blendtec. ("Ice into snow" is the feat that, in my mind, separates good blenders from bad.)

I don't get much mileage out of my blender, it's one of those appliances you get because it feels essential but then you can't actually do much with it. Making smoothies for visiting children, that's about it. Oh, I once blended pasta for someone who had a bout of Bell's palsy.

infinite zestYeah the Ninja's awesome. An old housemate of mine's girlfriend got one for Christmas one year. It wasn't mine so I didn't use it but she'd make kickass smoothies and margaritas with it for us all the time.. for about 2 weeks. Then it just sat there. :(

BortI get vastly more use out of my Ninja 3-in-1 Cooking System, basically a huge slow cooker that can also do stove top cooking and even oven cooking. Oddly enough, they're damn hard to find these days, probably because all kinds of competitors have rolled out similar products and Ninja opts not to devote much energy to competition.

Oscar WildcatIs there something wrong with your range and/or oven that you need to use the other thing?

There's a super sleazy overstock store near here that I found had a ton of that ninja stuff. Hell, I could prolly get you a three in one, I wasn't looking but he's got quite a collection of the brand (I suspect it didn't sell very well if it ended up there ).

For myself, I've been using Osterizers from the mid 70's/80's period, American made so they don't fall apart and an all analog transmission that lets you match the load properly to keep the motor from stalling and burning out. Some plastic, but the important bits are glass and steel. A good one will set you back ten bucks.

gravelstudiosI have a blendtec and love it, but I get the feeling that it's a 'your mileage may vary' kind of thing. Most of it is marketing hype, but it's still the best blender I've ever personally used. I will say that when by jar died, they sent me a new one no questions asked, which was nice.

Bort"Is there something wrong with your range and/or oven that you need to use the other thing?"

There's nothing wrong with my oven and range, but the Ninja is just tons simpler for me to work with. Standard Bort recipe: cook some chicken breasts (Oven setting), chop them up with a spatula, add some rice and water and broccoli (Stove / Medium setting), let it cook, add some cheddar cheese and leave it in Buffet mode. Or, peel some potatoes, put them on the metal torture rack, pour in water, cook (Oven setting) for a while until the potatoes are baked. Or, scrambled eggs on Stove / Medium, or open-faced grilled cheese sandwiches on Stove / High. It's just very simple to work with, and the non-stick pot is super easy to clean.

infinite zestSlow cookers are the shit! I knew I was fully married once when we had four of them. I get impatient when cooking and it's great to just put some shit in a pot, put it on cook for 8 hours and that's it. After one of them was broken in a rage we were down to 3, and I got rid of the rest, and now I just eat beans straight out of the can with some hot sauce :(

CrimsonHyperSlothHis channel is quite fun, silly good times and you learn things. If he makes a mistake, like this video (it's a TRIAC not a MOSFET) he'll update the description or in the follow up video.

jfcaron_caThis is amazing, I love the mix of spoonerisms and pacific NW & indigenous slang.

In a later video though he calls people nosey hippies for calling him out while he's cutting down trees in a provincial park. Makes me think he's a bit of a douche.

SolRoI noticed the douchbaggery when he started whining about CFL bulbs in another video.